There’s a difference between “no AI allowed” (not what the unions are calling for) and “contracts need stipulations about AI usage” (reasonable).
If you are not familiar with what is actually being negotiated over, then please don’t weigh in. WGA/SAG-AFTRA are not calling for an AI ban. Every time these debates come up armchair AI “advocates” swarm like cryptobros to call everyone backwards/ignorant/resistant to change regardless of the context.
There’s a difference between “no AI allowed” (not what the unions are calling for) and “contracts need stipulations about AI usage”
If those contacts include paying actors as much as they would have needed to act and restricting it’s usage when writing scripts the difference is moot. If your erase all benefit to using AI it becomes worthless.
Only if Hollywood wants to go completely non-union. Good luck with that. IATSE isn’t going to crow a movie if SAG-AFTRA and the WGA aren’t involved. Maybe they’ll find enough non-union crew to do a big time movie, but they’ll be making it in the Philippines.
In the long term, AI is going to be such a massive force multiplier that you’ll be able to get away with non union writers and actors.
If all goes well you will be able to produce a film in your basement and have it rival the quantity of the current big boys. That will be a long while, but in the meantime any industry that loses a 2x productivity boost will die to its competition.
Especially in the modern world. Centralized stars and production is crazy in a world where you can pull out a camera and buy a rendering supercomputer for a few thousand dollars.
Maybe years down the road, but we’re talking about today. Making a non-union movie and expecting it to be something like a Marvel movie- it won’t. It will be a movie that will end up on Mystery Science Theater 3000 because it will suck.
Union shows immidiately get outcompeted by AI generation and all studios doing business with them go out of business.
AI is the future here guys. Union won’t stop it. They’ll just drag Hollywood down with them.
There’s a difference between “no AI allowed” (not what the unions are calling for) and “contracts need stipulations about AI usage” (reasonable).
If you are not familiar with what is actually being negotiated over, then please don’t weigh in. WGA/SAG-AFTRA are not calling for an AI ban. Every time these debates come up armchair AI “advocates” swarm like cryptobros to call everyone backwards/ignorant/resistant to change regardless of the context.
If those contacts include paying actors as much as they would have needed to act and restricting it’s usage when writing scripts the difference is moot. If your erase all benefit to using AI it becomes worthless.
Only if Hollywood wants to go completely non-union. Good luck with that. IATSE isn’t going to crow a movie if SAG-AFTRA and the WGA aren’t involved. Maybe they’ll find enough non-union crew to do a big time movie, but they’ll be making it in the Philippines.
Or in America.
In the long term, AI is going to be such a massive force multiplier that you’ll be able to get away with non union writers and actors.
If all goes well you will be able to produce a film in your basement and have it rival the quantity of the current big boys. That will be a long while, but in the meantime any industry that loses a 2x productivity boost will die to its competition.
Especially in the modern world. Centralized stars and production is crazy in a world where you can pull out a camera and buy a rendering supercomputer for a few thousand dollars.
Maybe years down the road, but we’re talking about today. Making a non-union movie and expecting it to be something like a Marvel movie- it won’t. It will be a movie that will end up on Mystery Science Theater 3000 because it will suck.